§ 4. Mr. BOLANDasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether his attention has been called to that portion of the latest Report of the Congested Districts Board in which reference is made to the proposed starting of an official brand for cured mackerel; and whether, in view of the success which has attended the institution of an official brand for cured herrings, steps will be taken to bring into general use the system of branding barrels of cured mackerel?
§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELL (Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture, Ireland, for Mr. Birrell)The attention of my right hon. Friend has been called to this matter. The use of a brand for pickled mackerel for export to the United States of America is engaging the attention of the Congested Districts Board. It is necessary in the first instance to secure the approval of mackerel curers, and steps have been taken to ascertain the views of the trade in Ireland.
§ 5. Mr. BOLANDasked what steps have been taken to bring to the notice of fish curers in the congested districts the details of the mackerel-curing experiment con ducted by the Congested Districts Board in the autumn of 1913: and whether the Board has considered the advisability of issuing a leaflet, for free distribution, with a view to imparting the methods of selecting, splitting, and curing mackerel for the American market, and thereby preparing the way for the general adoption of an official brand?
§ Mr. RUSSELLThe Congested Districts Board have arranged to prepare for circulation among fish curers a leaflet embodying the statements in the Board's Twenty-first Annual Report as to mackerel curing. A leaflet of instructions for curing for the American market has been very widely circulated with the object of improving the methods of curing and of having the question of instituting a brand considered by the local fish curers.